7 days

gcyeaw · #1 01-20-2009

Well,
We are going through an interesting 7 days.

We went to sunny (but cool) St. Augestine Florida for my daughters wedding this weekend. It was a great time and things went along according to plan.

Today we dropped my youngest son off at the airport for a semester in Ireland as part of a program at his college.

This Saturday I will help my remaining son move into his new apartment.

My food and power bill should drop by 50%. And since no one is living at home, my car insurance will drop significantly as well.

Kids are nice to have around, but it is great to see them heading out on their own.

dmatz · #2 01-20-2009

I am 10 years behind you. We are looking foward to getting on the road for a long time then. Congradts and enjoy.

#3 01-20-2009

Gardner
Just remember they leave and comeback with more. My kids are in competition My son got married three years later get a Christmas day phone call "Hey Grandpa". They came out for my daughter's wedding. Next thing we hear from her " I took 5 EPTs all positive" first grandson born in August. My first granddaughter born in Dec. My son & daughter in law decided to expand family size. Second granddaughter born in Jul. My daughter informs us she hopes it a boy. Sure enough Jan. They have got to stop competing with each other. Right now all of them are in TX

iamflagman · #4 01-21-2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by gcyeaw

Well,
We are going through an interesting 7 days.

I also have been going through an interesting 7 days, but of a somewhat different nature. I have been married twice but chose both times to not have any children, probably because I didn't want them to turn out like me...OK, you can stop nodding your heads in agreement.......instead we have always had a succession of dogs, that got treated as if they were children. Some of you have met my present kids Buddy the beagle and Cally the cat, well we got a visitor with us now and the visitor arrived a week ago, he is a Treeing Walker Coonhound and some of you knowledgeable dog fans will recognize that bred as looking like a long legged large beagle and Gradie, as he has been named by friends of mine that rescued him, when he showed up at their door, very much underweight and with open wounds and covered with dirt, fleas and ticks, they have taken him to a vet and had him treated physically and bathed and treated for the fleas and ticks and since they didn't have a fenced in yard like I do, as I have a very large fenced in yard close to 2 acres, so he is staying with us until there is an open spot for him in one of the local no-kill kennels where he can be adopted.

Buddy of coarse has been a little confused by all of this, Gradie is I'm guessing about two years old compared to Buddy being 15 and while there has not been any standoffs or confrontations between them, Gradie has CLAIMED a few of Buddy's favorite spots, one being the footwell under my desk here in the shop/office, but they have sometimes occupied the same spot as seen in this photo.

http://www.pbase.com/iamflagman/image/108371918/large

That is Buddy in the back and they do look very similar in colors, but Buddy is much more of a low rider model

the pedals at the bottom of the picture are for my Live For Speed computer game.

I have been thinking about adopting Gradie myself, but he is a handful and not just content to lay around and chill like Buddy does, he has a lot of energy, can easily climb right over my chain link fence, likes to jump up on everybody he meets, eats like a horse (four times more dog food than Buddy) and when he gets bored he likes to chew on things...just like all of my dogs did at that age, they act like teenagers and try to push your buttons, but this guy is a very affectionate dog with very similar temperament and personality as Buddy, so he is hard not to like, but then I don't know if I want to go through the TERRIBLE TWO'S all over again.

Now as far as him getting along with my other kid Cally the cat..................well, he is a Treeing Walker Coonhound and on his first encounter with her.......he "TREED" her up an oak tree about 30 feet, so right now I keep them separated.

Crit Bliss · #5 01-21-2009

Wow, Buddy is 15 John? Walter turns 15 in March. God willing, perhaps the two elder statesmen of the group can get a pic together in Myrtle Beach. I think Walters days of slaying water heaters may be behind him, Buddy, I'm not so sure, he may have one or two left in him still.

rob · #6 01-21-2009

gradie looks like hes saying uh uh I aint going nowhere---I like it here, with my new daddy. I think ya got a new boy John

iamflagman · #7 01-21-2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by rob

gradie looks like hes saying uh uh I aint going nowhere---I like it here, with my new daddy. I think ya got a new boy John

He sure has made himself at home for sure, but I'm not sure about it being permanent, I came out to the office last night and he had chewed in two the control wires going to those pedals in the picture and they are just a little bit larger AWG than a telephone cable and hard wired, I had just enough of a lead coming out of the pedals to wire them back together, but with my hand tremors it was a chore, I'm sure that you and Randy would have gotten a real good laugh watching that

four wires took me almost an hour to finish. Now the control wire is stashed out of the way and I'm trying to find other things around here that he might chew on, so far he hasn't chewed on any extension cords

fxdwg · #8 01-21-2009

He'll only chew on one once!

iamflagman · #9 01-21-2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by fxdwg

He'll only chew on one once!

That isn't always the case, I had a Walker as my first dog and he chewed on two of them as a puppy, but not all the way though and still lived to be 16 years old.

iamflagman · #10 01-23-2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by rob

gradie looks like hes saying uh uh I aint going nowhere---I like it here, with my new daddy. I think ya got a new boy John

Evidently Gradie had other ideas, he ran out the drive through gate as I was closing it here at the homebase, two days ago and there was no way that I could keep up with him, as he headed into the woods. I had just taken him and Buddy for a ride in the car and stopped by the Animal Protection League a no kill pet adoption facility and they informed me that they had a prospective foster care family that would probably take him. It may have been the site of all of the dogs inside the pens and who knows maybe they can communicate, there was a lot of barking going on (that always reminds me of the Eddie Murphy version of the Dr. Doolittle movie) and he didn't like the idea of possibly being LOCKED UP, so he decided to break out of stir so to speak and try again to make it on his own, I just hope he makes it OK.

Buddy and I did a lengthy search for him, but out here in the heavily wooded country, he would be hard to even see and even harder to catch.